A subscriber identity module (SIM) is used to store information that is used to identify and authenticate subscriber devices within a communication network. Typically, a SIM is an integrated circuit (or ‘chip’) embedded within a card known as a SIM card. A SIM card is often removable so that a user can use it with different subscriber devices and still be identifiable to a network. SIM cards are often found in mobile devices such as mobile phones, smartphones, tablets etc.
Mobile network operators tend to use SIM cards to control access to their networks and to provide the basis for secure communications over the network. A user wishing to access services provided by a network operator can purchase a SIM card from the network operator. If a user wishes to change which network operator they use then they are typically required to purchase a new SIM card from the new network operator. In some scenarios a user can obtain access to services from network operators other than the operator that issued their SIM card if the network operators have roaming arrangements with each other.
It is becoming increasingly desirable for machines to be able to communicate with each other so as to enable machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. An example of such a network is the so-called “Internet of Things”. Each machine within the network is preferably uniquely identifiable. In order to allow communication terminals to be deployed in large numbers inside a wide array of ‘things’, it is desirable that the cost of each terminal (including the entire endpoint radio module) be as low as possible. This focus on low-cost terminals may a barrier from using existing-style SIM cards within each terminal.
One option to reduce the cost of a terminal is to embed the SIM chip into the terminal so that the SIM is no longer in the form of a removable card. An example of this approach is the embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) developed by the GSM Association (GSMA). This approach can reduce the cost of a terminal; however, it has not yet led to a cost reduction that is sufficient for ultra-low cost terminals such as those wanted to implement the Internet of Things.
Another approach is to simulate the function of a SIM chip in software. This approach has the potential to result in suitably low cost and secure systems, but there remain many problems, which have prevented it from gaining widespread acceptance. For example, there remain difficulties in simulating the full functionality of present day SIMs, with existing SIM chips providing a level of functionality which is substantially greater than that needed for just security functions. Additionally, a difficulty can arise in managing the remote provisioning of network service. The eUICC, for example, requires initial bearer details to be installed on each terminal at manufacture, which may complicate the manufacture process and reduces flexibility for the owner of the terminal. Furthermore, because the SIM chip is simulated in software within the terminal, there can be a difficulty of scaling the management and remote provisioning of network service due to the implied commercial and/or technical links between the hardware manufactures (e.g. the terminal manufacturer) and the network operators. There is therefore a need for an improved approach for providing a communication terminal with network credentials.